Renowned western writer and former Publisher of Desert Magazine, author Choral Pepper evokes the mystery and magic of southern California's desert, spinning tales of lost mines, Indian myths, legendary characters, strange natural features, and fabled treasure ships. Her self-guiding walks and drives enable the explorer to experience the stories beyond the vistas along byways and trails from the Palm Springs area to the Salton Sea, down the Colorado River, and through the desert parks from Joshua Tree to Anza-Borrego. As in oral and written tradition the world over, these stories have become the essential myth of this fabled land and its people. Choral's lively style samples the range of desert California from often told tales of treasure ships to the first-time report on "the pyramids at the center of the world."